One in Three Cities, Counties, or Districts Lacks a Maternity Hospital... 10% of Newborns Are Born Outside Their Residential Area

A Twofold Gap in Maternity Personnel Between Seoul and Jeollanam-do per Number of Newborns
Seo Youngseok: "Redefinition and Balanced Regional Allocation of Maternity Workforce Needed"

One out of every three cities, counties, or districts nationwide does not have a maternity hospital, and one in ten newborns is born outside their residential area due to the lack of such a facility, resulting in so-called "birth tourism" to other regions.

According to a study titled "Redefining Korea's Childbirth Workforce Gap and Preterm Birth Policy," commissioned by Seo Youngseok, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, to the Ubuntu Health Policy Lab and released on March 16, 2026, the regional concentration of childbirth professionals in Korea is at a critical level.

The study found that, as of 2024, there were a total of 2,471 childbirth professionals (obstetricians and midwives) working at medical institutions that claimed at least one childbirth case under National Health Insurance. Of these, obstetricians accounted for 2,423 (98.1%), while midwives numbered only 48 (1.9%).

Given that there were 8,114 licensed midwives nationwide in 2023, it was determined that only a very small proportion are actually active in childbirth settings. This indicates that the current childbirth system is, in effect, centered on obstetricians.

Based on the 2024 national birth count (238,317 births), there were 10.4 childbirth professionals per 1,000 newborns nationwide. However, regional disparities were stark: Seoul had 14.9 childbirth professionals per 1,000 newborns, while Jeonnam had only 6.2, more than a twofold difference.

The number of newborns each childbirth professional was responsible for also varied sharply by region. The national average stood at 96.4, but in Jeonnam it was the highest at 161.3, whereas in Seoul it was the lowest at 67.1. This means that the workload per professional is significantly higher in non-metropolitan regions. The concentration in major cities was evident, with the ratio of childbirth professionals to newborns being higher in metropolitan cities compared to provinces.

When the researchers reorganized the 2024 data on medical institutions with at least one childbirth case and birth data from the population trends survey, they found that out of 252 cities, counties, and districts nationwide, 84 areas (33.3%) had no childbirth medical facilities whatsoever.

The number of babies born in these regions totaled 24,176, accounting for 10.1% of all newborns. In other words, about one in ten babies in Korea is born outside their residential area due to the absence of a local maternity facility. More than one in ten pregnant women must travel to another region for prenatal care and delivery, accepting the so-called "birth tourism" phenomenon.

The research team stated, "This means that pregnant women are not fully guaranteed the right to safely manage their pregnancies and give birth," adding, "It highlights the structural limitations of a childbirth system that excessively relies on obstetricians."

Assemblyman Seo Youngseok said, "As regional disparities intensify, a comprehensive strategy is needed, including the balanced distribution of childbirth professionals and increased participation of midwives in deliveries. There must be a paradigm shift in the definition and scope of the childbirth workforce, the reimbursement system, the legal accountability structure, and the overall training and deployment system for personnel."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.